Feldon Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) today announced the landmark 60th game update for the iconic massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), EverQuest®II (EQII) The Children of War.
Scheduled to arrive to the world of Norrath on May 17, 2011, the update will continue the storyline introduced to players in the recently released EQII: Destiny of Velious expansion pack as part of the Age’s End Prophecy saga and deliver content for players of all types, including battlegrounds and PvP improvements.
From April 14 to April 21, 2011, former players are also invited to log back in and experience the unparalleled depth and adventure that can only be found in EQII with the Take Flight Winback promotion. Eligible inactive accounts can log back in for free for 7 days, claim their free flying mount and reunite with friends and enemies alike for 7 days!
The plans of Rallos Zek are beginning to come to fruition and the mighty Fortress of Drunder, which once sat within the Plane of War itself, has appeared on Norrath, and now rests high above the Kromzek city of Kael Drakkel. From Drunder, Rallos Zek plans to rally his war parties, scale the massive sheer cliffs leading to the Western Wastes, and execute his plan to steal the power of Roehn Theer. It will take bold and daring adventurers to enter the fortress itself, unlock the secrets to the salvation of Norrath, and thwart the destructive agenda of the God of War.
PvP & Battlegrounds improvements, including but not limited to:
o Lobby system so players can hang together between matches with PvP merchants available locally
o New Velious battleground map (“The Frozen Tundra”)
o New Battleground game type! (“Vanquish!”)
o PvP and Battlegrounds rule modifications for better balance and fun factor
o Fame system improvements
o New PvP armorItemization:
o New Adornments interface to make this system easier to understand
o Continued honing of the itemization systemDrunder!
o Three new instanced dungeons
o Three new raids with all new bosses
o New daily missions
o Crystal Caverns
o Solo shard quest
o Two new heritage quests
o Additional signature quest lineNOTE: Drunder content is locked to DoV expansion owners only. All other GU content affects all players.
EQ2Wire Commentary
If the “free flying mount” offered to inactive players ends up being available below level 86, then I expect this will be a hotly debated issue.
UPDATE: The flying mount is a 12 hour one-use item. Players who qualify can get them off the Marketplace for 0,SC until the event ends.
Drunder as in the same Drunder from EQ1 PoP with the Zek twins and the giant pit?
What about the new public quest?
Sooo the current itemization PQ’s —> Raid gear, puts the majority of that live updates under the useless category, or they change that and noone noticed?
Drunder as in EQ1 Planes of Power zone where the giant pit was? That’s pretty awesome IMO.
Instance gear is so far above PQ gear now it’s not effective at all to raid in PQ gear compared to instance gear. Especially now with the crafter and merchant reductions on shard gear costs. Anyone in t2 from SF raiding will easily switch to the 3 shard gear focus pieces from Ry’gorr.
“If the “free flying mount” offered to inactive players ends up being available below level 86, then I expect this will be a hotly debated issue.”
The mount is only available for 12 hours.
3 new raids eh?
Not to be a buzz kill but my guess would be:
– New x2 zone
– New raid instance, with a normal & challenge version
Thoughts?
I am guessing the flying mount will be there for just the 7 days?
Or alternatively its going to be there forever but need the flying mount quest to unlock?
I’d be very surprised if they just gave it out otherwise, its a good idea for a promotion though to give ex/rested players a taste of the expansion. Timing wise is very good too.
A bloody Battlegrounds update? I see they still wasting man-hours on the DOA garbage :S
Darwynn,
It’s shocking isn’t it that SOE would focus any attention on a style of gameplay not your own. Let’s delete housing and solo questing too.
Yes, it’s Drunder, fortress of Zek. If you’ve been following the forum’s lore topics (or just completed the Signature Quest, either way), you knew this was coming…and at least vaguely what it entails. (And it puts a VERY literal spin on the update’s name…)
Has any one seen anything about the fabled “Class Manifesto” that was promised with DoV?
Silzin,
I have been wondering this myself.
I’m not sure what people expect to come from a “class breakdown”. They’ll tell us what we already know, keep “making class balances”, and things will be as they always were. They make sweeping changes once a year, and it’s usually during an expansion launch. Nothing too new here. It helps the selling point in all honestly.
Learn to live with it and you’ll probably enjoy the game more. Or maybe you won’t.